Tubular conveyer system



,Sept. 1, 1936. c. BECKMANN 2,052,597

I TUBULAR CONVEYER SYSTEM Filed Feb. 18, 1933 Carl Bee/rm mm AffornqyPatented Sept. 1, 1936 TUBULAR? CONVEYER SYSTEMf Carl Beckmann,Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany, assignor to Mix .& Genest Aktiengesellschaft;: Berlin-Schoneberg, Germany Application February 18,1933,:Serial No. 557,403

a In Germany February 24,1932. 7

Claims.

This: invention-relates to tubular conveyer systems and moreparticularly :tothe exchange stations: thereof', -i.. e.the...stat,ions-where the carriers,';i. .e.. the iconveyinggcontainersmoved along thentubes, are-deliveredirom one tube into an-- otheriinrnrdertcbe. brought to. the desired receiving point. .Inknownarrangementsmhe carriers are so constructedcthat; sthey tare led by:their. own action from pnetubeainto a predetermined-other V-tube,

Fonexample, they ,may ,have rings for-closing e1ectric.:circuits,.andin; such circuits means are operated ;to bringitheicarniersfrom one tubeinto thecother.

'Ihismarbe efiected ,by a. rotatableudrum or otherdistributing,rarrangemenh;

According-to. the. invention in zan;exchange station: fore pneumatic;tube. conveyer-systems, a group of incoming. tubes-and a group ofoutgoingltubesizaretinterconnected by asingle tube fromzwhich means. forselectively directing; the carriers into thedoutgoi tubesare controlledby the":carriers,;;;whi1st; controlling 'means is providedfor. feeding.the carriers into this single tube from a the incoming, ltubes. in;succession so. that the. carriers :;shall not: collide; in leaving theincoming: tubesn.

' An. arrangement. combining ;these-;features is simpler in nperat-ionand .occupies; less; space than prior :systemsr;

An .embodimentiiof; the invention is explained in .the followingdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing "in whichFig. 1 ispadiagramof the exchange station.

1 Figs; 2iand:3,";drawnvto a larger scale thaniFig'.

1,.aredetailyiews, partlyin section, of ;a looking device morefullygrefeltredto hereafter; This device. is shown-:in atwo:differentstates of oper: ation.;. Fig.-:. .4 :18. acdetailgview, partly inysec-rtion, showingpa circuit: arrangement described further, on. Fig. 5 isa;plan view.-of; a gearing thatnrforms part-.01. the. arrangementrepresentedrinx'Fig. 1..

Fig; 1 shows four. incoming ;tubes--I 'eachrprovided:with;-an outletflap 2 and asuction conduit 3.: The :flaps 2 :are each 'disposedaboye:an :inlet funnel- 430i 2. tube 5.. The tubes; 5:run into a tube. 6iwhich feedsdintoca tubular :member :1. Disposed. below thetubulanmember1 are three switchzton'gues 8,; 9,1. I 0, -;adapted=,to lead each intoone 'of'three toutgoing tubesd If; The-,fourth of the :tubes: ;.I I {hasa .zfunnelrshaped end-,1 I 2 with which it extends,;into the ,spacebetween. th switchstonguesmllun n e h .Tnetswitcntonguesfie 9,;I 0 areeach understhe control of; an electromagnetic relay. indicated-by its.winding. These windings; are :denoted by Ba, 9a, Ifla. The circuitof thewinding tic-contains two sliding contactstbn In the circuitvof 'thewinding 9atwo contacts-.91) are provided; land in the -circuit of-cthewinding: loch-there. are ;two sliding contacts 3b..A-circuitar-rangement that; may ;be employed in thisconnection is shownin Figgl" The circuit ofv Fig. 4 includes a-relay 8a;

whosewinding .is connected to-a battery 30 and 10;,

to. one 0f;- the pair of contacts 81). The reIay-Ba is energizedby'closure of contacts .817 during'the passage of theappropriatecaIrierLthroughZ-the tube 6.-

contact 8'-@ which is engagedv by the pul1ingup;,ofthe relay l armaturein,-a 1 manner well known. Theiholding contact 8: is under the controlof a spring latch13I- oi-the tube- I I,.this latchprow jectingintothe'path'of; the carriers so that the, carrier -forces =the spring latch3I into engagement -withmhe movable contact member of, the holdingcontact 8; thereby ;me chanicallm opening theyholding .circuit of the.relay- 8a.- The relays indicated by'the winding 9a; I0amay;;,be;conr;nected in the samemmanner as therelay indife. cated by the--winding 8a..Their circuits are therefore not shown.-

The -distance=-between contactsjbis greater than, that between, contacts91) and? this latter distance ,ispgreater thanthat between contactsIilb. .Thesethreelpairs of contacts are-disposed in thetube 6 and areintended tQ-COaOUWithIQOIk tact rings of thecarriers in awelleknownmanner.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, eachrztube 5 has1 an opening I3 for; anEJ111714 and ;an:opening I5 :for an1arm.-I6.5 Each arm; I4 and an armaIIform a bell .crank lever pivotally mount e d ;on- ,a:shaft .I 8 that:cannot :rotate... The bell crank levers I 4;. I I eachlhavea-nnger49.1The arms ;l6sa1teeeach likewise rotatableon ;,one of thelshaftspllae andthey are located betweengthenfinger Ifloand a spring 20 fixed :to, theaxle: 1I8. The arms I't each have a r011er -2I.: Thea-bell crankle'versI4,. I1 eachgtend to; bear :onthe. circumference .:ofzinedividnalwcamsfizjl Thisi isndue to; a spring .23 which is fixed tothe tube 5 andis bearing against the finger I9.; Each .cam 22 isdisposed in a.posi-. tiontgdifierent. from that not the other e-cams 22.Inthe instance :shown the.;p0 sition of .;each cam difiers by -a right;angle fromathatlof the adjacent cams, As shownin Fig.y5,1the. cams 22;are, geared by bevel wheelsfil itqra shaft:':33p.operated byma motor34.1.

Each. tube-.1 is provided withamarrangement Upon being energized therelay 8a -isheldlocked by means of its locking or holding of levers thathas certain parts similar to the parts I4, l6, I9, 20, 23 of thearrangement 'represented in Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 1 the parts whichcorrespond to the arms I4 are denoted by 24 and those corresponding tothe arms I6 are denoted by 26. The arms 24, 26 are mounted on a shaftwhich is common to all of them. The arms 24 are fixed to this, shaft andthe arms 26 are disposed loose thereon. The shaft 25 has an arm 21carrying roller 28 which bears on the circumference of a cam 29. Inorder to avoid the ranged in planes normal to this shaft.

The operation is as follows: s The driving air which is in a well-knownmanner produced in the tubes I through the suction conduits 3 causes thecarriers to move toward the flaps 2. The carriers by their impact openthese flaps against the action of the driving air, which tends toclose'the flaps, and then fall through the pressure of the spring 20.

the funnels 4 into the tubes 5.

'I'he cams 22 are revolved by the motor 34. On each revolution of a camthe appertaining arms I4, I6 are brought from the position shown in Fig;2 into the position represented in Fig. 3 and are then returned to theformer position. When in the position shown in Fig. 2 the free end ofarm I4 projects into the tube 5 so as to stop the carriers w and y andstill other carriers that may arrive in tube 5. With the bell cranklever I4, I! in this position, the arm I 6 is retained by the finger I9so that the arm I6 can not yield under The cam 22 moves the-lever I4, I!against the action'of'the spring 23 and in such manner that the free endof arm I I leave's'the tube 5 whilst the finger I9 is retracted from thearm I6. This will be seen from Fig. 3. The arm I 4 thus .allows thecarrier :1: to continue its motion. At the same time, however,the spring20 acts to press the arm I 6 against the carrier 51 so that this carrieris prevented from following the carrier :1: immediately. a The arm I6 isretracted from the carrier y as soon as the active portion of cam 22leaves the arm I1.

The arm- I4 consequently 'reassumes the position shown in Fig. 2, so asto stop the carrier :11 just freed of the arm IS. The carrier y remainsarrested in this'way until the cam 22 has brought the arm II andconsequently the arms l4, I6 again into the position represented in Fig.3. By this means the carriers are caused to follow each other atdefinite spaced intervals.

. On the stopping device I4, I6 of one tube 5 being in the conditionshown in Fig. 3, the stopping. devices hi, I5 of the other tubes 5 arein the condition represented in Fig. 2. This is due to the describedmutual position of the cams 22. Therefore, at any time only onedeviceI4, IE will allow a carrier to reach the tube 6, so that it isimpossible for carriers arriving from different tubes 5 to run into eachother.

The carriers may be adapted to close one or other of. the circuits inwhich the contacts 81), 9b, IOb are provided. In such case one of theswitch tongues 8, 9, I0 .is brought into its operative position so as tolead the carrier into the respective tube I I. Carriers not able tocoact with one or other of the contacts 81), 91), lb and thus to set oneof the switch tongues will fall through between the switch tongues 9, I0into that tube II which-has the funnel I2.

In the tubes II the carriers are stopped by the respective devices 24,26. The devices 24,, 26'are moved conjointly by means of the cam 29.This cam by engaging the arm 21 operates in the same manner as the cams22 act by means of the arm II, that is, the shaft 25 and arms 24, 26 arerocking in the same manner as the arms I4, I6. In this way carriersarriving in a tube II are spaced apart therein in a similar manner tothat described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3 so as to avoid thepossibility of the'carriers being bunched in their passage through therespective outgoing tubes II.

. What: isclaimed is:

1. A pneumatic tube conveyer system com- '3 prising. an exchangestation, a groupof tubes incoming to said station and a group oftubesout going fromsaid station, means for selectively dimeeting acarrierfrom any of the incoming tubes into any one of the outgoing tubescomprising a single tube interconnecting the tubes of one i group andthe tubes of the other group, means forsuccessively feeding the carriersfrom the incoming tubes into said single tube, and means operating'undercontrol of the carriers during their passage through said singletube forselectively directing said carriers from said single tube into theoutgoing tubes as determined'by said car- IlGl'S.

2. A pneumatic tube conveyer system i com prising an exchange station, agroup of tubes incoming to said station and a group of tubes outgoingfrom said station, a single stationary tube interconnecting the tubes ofone group and the tubes of the other group,'means,for successively ingan exchange station, a group of tubes incoming to said station and agroup of tubes outgoing from said station, a single tube interconnectingthe tubes of 'one group and the tubes of the other group, means forfeeding the carriers from the incoming tubes successively into saidsingle tube,

means operating under control of the carriers during'their passagethrough said'singletube for selectively directing said carrierstherefrom into the outgoing tubes as determined by said carriers, and.means associated with each outgoing tube and controlled by the passageof a carrier therethrough to release said; operating means.

4. A pneumatic tube conveyer system comprising an exchange station, agroup of tubes incoming to said station and a group tubes outgoing fromsaid station, means for interconnecting the incoming tubes with theoutgoingtubes, comprising a single tube having connected incomingbranches positioned to receive carriersfrom the respective incomingtubes and having its exit positioned to feedthe carriers into any one ofthe outgoing tubes as determined by the. carriers, means cooperatingwith said incoming branches to feed the carriers'delivered by theincoming tubes successively into, said single. tube, and meansoperating'under control of the carriers during their passage throughsaid single tube for selectively directing: said carriers therefrom intothe outgoing tubes as determined by said carriers. 7

ing a single tube having connected incoming branches positioned toreceive carriers from the respective incoming tubes and having its exitpositioned to feed the carriers into any one of the outgoing tubes asdetermined by the carriers, means cooperating with said incomingbranches to feed the carriers delivered by the incoming tubessuccessively into said single tube, means operating under control of thecarriers during their passage through said single tube for selectivelydirecting said carriers therefrom into the outgoing tubes as determinedby said car riers, and means associated with each outgoing tube andcontrolled by the passage of a carrier therethrough to release saidoperating means. CARL BECKMANN.

